1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to surgical instruments and, more particularly, to surgical stapling instruments and staples for use therewith.
2. Description of Related Art
Surgical staplers can be used during a variety of surgical techniques. During at least one surgical technique, a surgical stapler can be inserted through a cannula, or tube, positioned within a small incision in a patient's body. These surgical techniques are referred to as endoscopic and/or laparoscopic surgical techniques and are often preferred over traditional, or open, surgical techniques as they can reduce the recovery time of the patient. Surgical staplers used during such techniques often include an end effector which can be used to achieve a variety of diagnostic and/or therapeutic effects. In various embodiments, such surgical staplers can include an end effector that can incise soft tissue and insert staples into the soft tissue on opposing sides of the incision. In at least one embodiment, the end effector can include a pair of cooperating jaw members that can be passed through the cannula where one of the jaw members can include a staple cartridge and the other jaw member can include an anvil. In at least one such embodiment, the staple cartridge can be configured to deploy at least two rows of staples into the tissue and the anvil can include staple-forming pockets which can be configured to deform the staples as they are deployed.
Some surgical staplers, such as those described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,465,895, entitled SURGICAL STAPLER INSTRUMENT, issued on Nov. 14, 1995, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein, can include an end effector having a cutting member and staple driver, for example, where the cutting member and staple driver can be moved along a linear, curved, and/or curvilinear path within the end effector. Such surgical staplers are often referred to as endocutters and can be utilized during gastric bypass surgical techniques in which the size of a patient's stomach can be reduced, for example. One of the most common gastric bypass surgical techniques is a Roux-en-Y gastric bypass. In such a technique, the stomach can be transected into at least two portions where one of the portions can be formed into a small pouch which can be connected directly to a middle portion of the patient's small intestine, i.e., the jejunum. In various circumstances, the endocutter can be used to cut the stomach along a desired path and deploy staples into the stomach tissue in order to hold the stomach tissue together. As a result of the above-described technique, food passing through the digestive tract can bypass the other transected portion of the stomach and an upper portion of the small intestine, i.e., the duodenum.
Other surgical staplers, such as intra-luminal, or circular, staplers, for example, have been developed to assist a surgeon during a surgical technique known as an anastomosis. An anastomosis is a surgical technique in which a small and/or large intestine is transected, a portion thereof is excised, and the remaining portions are joined together. This technique often requires a surgeon to transect the small intestine, for example, at two locations creating a first end, a second end, and an intermediate portion. Thereafter, the intermediate portion can be removed and the first and second ends can be positioned adjacent to each other. In order to join the first and second ends, the first and second ends can be positioned within an intra-luminal, or circular, stapler such that staples can be deployed into the first and second ends around the perimeter thereof to hold the first and second ends together. Such staplers are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,104,025, entitled INTRALUMINAL ANASTOMOTIC SURGICAL STAPLER WITH DETACHED ANVIL, issued on Apr. 14, 1992, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,309,927, entitled CIRCULAR STAPLER TISSUE RETENTION SPRING METHOD, issued on May 10, 1994, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein.